We consider heights of horizontal irreducible divisors on an arithmetic surface with respect to some hermitian line bundle. We obtain both lower and upper bounds for these heights. The results are different and sometimes stronger that those of S.Zhang on the same question. The case of the relative dualizing sheaf with the Arakelov metric is made especially explicit.
In algebraic geometry there is the notion of a height pairing of algebraic cycles, which lies at the confluence of arithmetic, Hodge theory and topology. After explaining a motivating example situation, we introduce new directions in this subject.
We extend to the topological setting the classical constructions of the Abel-Jacobi mapping on homologically trivial algebraic cycles and the height pairing between two such cycles. We further interpret the height pairing between homologically trivial topological cycles (with disjoint support) as giving a lifting of their Abel-Jacobi images to the fiber of the Poincaré bundle, extending work of R. Hain in the algebraic setting. Part II of the current revision further explores the relationship between the topological height pairing and the classical height pairing in the case of algebraic cycle…
In this paper, we consider an arithmetic Hodge index theorem for a family of semi-stable curves f: X \to B with f_{\bf C} being smooth, generalizing Faltings-Hriljac's arithmetic Hodge index theorem for an arithmetic surface.
The purpose of this paper is to give a linear and effective height inequality for algebraic points on curves over functional fields. Our height inequality can be viewed as the logarithmic canonical class inequality of a punctured curve over a functional field (a fibered surface minus a section).
This is a survey on the theory of height zeta functions, written on the occasion of a French-Japanese winter school, held in Miura (Kanagawa, Japan) in Jan. 2008. It does not presuppose much knowledge in algebraic geometry. The last chapter of the survey explains recent results obtained in collaboration with Yuri Tschinkel concerning asymptotics of volumes of height balls in analytic geometry over local fields, or in adelic spaces.
We use the weighted moduli height as defined in \cite{sh-h} to investigate the distribution of fine moduli points in the moduli space of genus two curves. We show that for any genus two curve with equation $y^2=f(x)$, its weighted moduli height $\mathfrak h (\mathfrak{p}) \leq 2^3 \sqrt{3 \cdot 5 \cdot 7} \, \cdot H(f)$, where $H(f)$ is the minimal naive height of the curve as defined in \cite{height}. Based on the weighted moduli height $\mathfrak h$ we create a database of genus two curves defined over $\mathbb Q$ with small $\mathfrak h$ and show that for small such height ($\mathfrak h < 5…
We establish a relation between intersection numbers of special cycles on a Shimura curve and special values of derivatives of metaplectic Eisenstein series at a place of bad reduction where p-adic uniformization in the sense of Cherednik and Drinfeld holds. The result extends the one established by one of us (S. Kudla: Ann. of Math. 146 (1997)) for the archimedean place and for the non-archimedean places of good reduction. The bulk of the paper is concerned with the corresponding problem on the Drinfeld upper half plane (the formal scheme version).
We exhibit a precise connection between Néron--Tate heights on smooth curves and biextension heights of limit mixed Hodge structures associated to smoothing deformations of singular quotient curves. Our approach suggests a new way to compute Beilinson--Bloch heights in higher dimensions.
We give examples of points with particularly low height on elliptic curves over quadratic fields, recovered by a search over elliptic divisibility sequences. The smallest example identified satisfies dh(P)=0.0077127...: improving on the previous smallest for curves over quadratic fields of dh(P)=0.0194426... given by Everest and Ward; and comparable with some of the examples of smallest height on curves over Q tabulated by Elkies.
We define a new canonical height pairing on the rational points of elliptic curves over global function fields which takes values in the multiplicative group of a completion of the function field. This height serves as an analogue of both the classical Neron-Tate height and analytic p-adic heights. Our main result is that under some general hypotheses this pairing is non-degenerate.
We give an asymptotic formula for the number of elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ with bounded Faltings height. Silverman has shown that the Faltings height for elliptic curves over number fields can be expressed in terms of modular functions and the minimal discriminant of the elliptic curve. We use this to recast the problem as one of counting lattice points in a particular region in $\mathbb{R}^2$.
We describe an algorithm to compute the local component at p of the Coleman-Gross p-adic height pairing on divisors on hyperelliptic curves. As the height pairing is given in terms of a Coleman integral, we also provide new techniques to evaluate Coleman integrals of meromorphic differentials and present our algorithms as implemented in Sage.
For $n\geq 2$, let $K=\overline{\mathbb{Q}}(\mathbb{P}^n)=\overline{\mathbb{Q}}(T_1, \ldots, T_n)$. Let $E/K$ be the elliptic curve defined by a minimal Weiestrass equation $y^2=x^3+Ax+B$, with $A,B \in \overline{\mathbb{Q}}[T_1, \ldots, T_n]$. There's a canonical height $\hat{h}_{E}$ on $E(K)$ induced by the divisor $(O)$, where $O$ is the zero element of $E(K)$. On the other hand, for each smooth hypersurface $Γ$ in $\mathbb{P}^n$ such that the reduction mod $Γ$ of $E$, $E_Γ / \overline{\mathbb{Q}}(Γ)$ is an elliptic curve with the zero element $O_Γ$, there is also a canonical height $\hat{h…
In this short note we prove a formula for local heights on elliptic curves over number fields in terms of intersection theory on a regular model over the ring of integers.
Given an elliptic curve E over a function field K=Q(T_1,...,T_n), we study the behavior of the canonical height ^h_(E_w) of the specialized elliptic curve E_w with respect to the height of w in Q^n. In this paper, we prove that there exists a uniform non-zero lower bound for the average of the quotient ^h_(E_w)(P_w)/h(w) for all non-torsion P in E(K).
Most systematic tables of data associated to ranks of elliptic curves order the curves by conductor. Recent developments, led by work of Bhargava-Shankar studying the average sizes of $n$-Selmer groups, have given new upper bounds on the average algebraic rank in families of elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ ordered by height. We describe databases of elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ ordered by height in which we compute ranks and $2$-Selmer group sizes, the distributions of which may also be compared to these theoretical results. A striking new phenomenon observed in these databases is that …
We prove Manin's conjecture concerning the distribution of rational points of bounded height, and its refinement by Peyre, for wonderful compactifications of semi-simple algebraic groups over number fields. The proof proceeds via the study of the associated height zeta function and its spectral expansion.
We discuss the principle tools and results and state a few open problems concerning the classification and topology of plane sextics and trigonal curves in ruled surfaces.
We prove a variant of a formula due to S. Zhang relating the Beilinson-Bloch height of the Gross-Schoen cycle on a pointed curve with the self-intersection of its relative dualizing sheaf. In our approach the height of the Gross-Schoen cycle occurs as the degree of a suitable Bloch line bundle. We show that the Chern form of this line bundle is non-negative, and we calculate its class in the Picard group of the moduli space of pointed stable curves of compact type. The basic tools are normal functions and biextensions associated to the cohomology of the universal jacobian.
We discuss relations between certain invariants of varieties in positive characteristic, like the a-number and the height of the Artin-Mazur formal group. We calculate the a-number for Fermat surfaces
In this article we prove several new uniform upper bounds on the number of points of bounded height on varieties over $\mathbb{F}_q[t]$. For projective curves, we prove the analogue of Walsh' result with polynomial dependence on $q$ and the degree $d$ of the curve. For affine curves, this yields an improvement to bounds by Sedunova, and Cluckers, Forey and Loeser. In higher dimensions, we prove a version of dimension growth for hypersurfaces of degree $d\geq 64$, building on work by Castryck, Cluckers, Dittmann and Nguyen in characteristic zero. These bounds depend polynomially on $q$ and $d$,…
We give a formula for the component at p of the p-adic height pairing of a divisor of degree 0 on a hyperelliptic curve. We use this to give a Chabauty-like method for finding p-adic approximations to p-integral points on such curves when the Mordell-Weil rank of the Jacobian equals the genus. In this case we get an explicit bound for the number of such p-integral points, and we are able to use the method in explicit computation. An important aspect of the method is that it only requires a basis of the Mordell-Weil group tensored with the rationals.
For $θ$ a non-algebraic point on a quasi projective variety over a number field, I prove that $θ$ has an approximation by a series of algebraic points of bounded height and degree which is essentially best possible. Applications of this result will include a proof of a slightly strengthened version of the Philippon criterion, some new algebraic independence criteria, statements concerning metric transcendence theory on varieties of arbitrary dimension, and a rather accurate estimate for the number of algebraic points of bounded height and degree on quasi projective varieties over number fields…
We study the jumps in the archimedean height of the Ceresa cycle, as introduced by R. Hain in his work on normal functions on moduli spaces of curves, and as further analyzed by P. Brosnan and G. Pearlstein in terms of asymptotic Hodge theory. Our work is based on a study of the asymptotic behavior of the Hain-Reed beta-invariant in degenerating families of curves. We show that the height jump of the Ceresa cycle at a given stable curve is equal to the so-called "slope" of the dual graph of the curve, and we characterize those stable curves for which the height jump vanishes. We also obtain an…
Let K be a number field and let E/K be an elliptic curve. If E has complex multiplication, we show that there is a positive lower bound for the canonical height of non-torsion points on E defined over the maximal abelian extension K^ab of K. This is analogous to results of Amoroso-Dvornicich and Amoroso-Zannier for the multiplicative group. We also show that if E has non-integral j-invariant (so that in particular E does not have complex multiplication), then there exists C > 0 such that there are only finitely many points P in E(K^ab) of canonical height less than C. This strengthens a result…
Let a and b be algebraic numbers such that exactly one of a and b is an algebraic integer, and let f_t(z):=z^2+t be a family of polynomials parametrized by t. We prove that the set of all algebraic numbers t for which there exist positive integers m and n such that f_t^m(a)=f_t^n(b) has bounded Weil height. This is a special case of a more general result supporting a new bounded height conjecture in dynamics. Our results fit into the general setting of the principle of unlikely intersections in arithmetic dynamics.
We show that transcendental curves in $\mathbb R^n$ (not necessarily compact) have few rational points of bounded height provided that the curves are well behaved with respect to algebraic sets in a certain sense and can be parametrized by functions belonging to a specified algebra of infinitely differentiable functions. Examples of such curves include logarithmic spirals and solutions to Euler equations $x^2y''+xy'+cy=0$ with $c>0$.
We prove that the p-adic height pairing of Nekovar, considered for algebraic curves, gives the p-adic height pairing of Coleman and Gross, defined using Coleman integration.
For several applications in the arithmetic of abelian varieties it is important to compute canonical heights. Following Faltings and Hriljac, we show how the canonical height on the Jacobian of a smooth projective curve can be computed using arithmetic intersection theory on a regular model of the curve in practice. In the case of hyperelliptic curves we present a complete algorithm that has been implemented in Magma. Several examples are computed and the behavior of the running time is discussed.
We construct an integral model for Lubin-Tate curves as moduli of finite subgroups of formal deformations over complete Noetherian local rings. They are p-adic completions of the modular curves X_0(p) at a mod-p supersingular point. Our model is semistable in the sense that the only singularities of its special fiber are normal crossings. Given this model, we obtain a uniform presentation for the Dyer-Lashof algebra of Morava E-theories at height 2 as local moduli of power operations in elliptic cohomology.
For each of n=1,2,3 we find the minimal height h^(P) of a nontorsion point P of an elliptic curve E over C(T) of discriminant degree d=12n (equivalently, of arithmetic genus n), and exhibit all (E,P) attaining this minimum. The minimal h^(P) was known to equal 1/30 for n=1 (Oguiso-Shioda) and 11/420 for n=2 (Nishiyama), but the formulas for the general (E,P) were not known, nor was the fact that these are also the minima for an elliptic curve of discriminant degree 12n over a function field of any genus. For n=3 both the minimal height (23/840) and the explicit curves are new. These (E,P) also…
In the first section of his seminal paper on height pairings, Beilinson constructed an $\ell$-adic height pairing for rational Chow groups of homologically trivial cycles of complementary codimension on smooth projective varieties over the function field of a curve over an algebraically closed field, and asked about an generalization to higher dimensional bases. In this paper we answer Beilinson's question by constructing a pairing for varieties defined over the function field of a smooth variety $B$ over an algebraically closed field, with values in the second $\ell$-adic cohomology group of …
We count the number of rational elliptic curves of bounded naive height that have a rational $N$-isogeny, for $N \in \{2,3,4,5,6,8,9,12,16,18\}$. For some $N$, this is done by generalizing a method of Harron and Snowden. For the remaining cases, we use the framework of Ellenberg, Satriano and Zureick-Brown, in which the naive height of an elliptic curve is the height of the corresponding point on a moduli stack.
We develop a strategy for bounding from above the height of rational points of modular curves with values in number fields, by functions which are polynomial in the curve's level. Our main technical tools come from effective Arakelov descriptions of modular curves and jacobians. We then fulfill this program in the following particular case: If $p$ is a not-too-small prime number, let $X_0 (p )$ be the classical modular curve of level $p$ over $\bf Q$. Assume Brumer's conjecture on the dimension of winding quotients of $J_0 (p)$. We prove that there is a function $b(p)=O(p^{5} \log p )$ (depend…
We show that the minimum $h_{\text{min}}$ of the stable Faltings height on elliptic curves found by Deligne is followed by a gap. This means that there is a constant $C >0$ such that for every elliptic curve $E/K$ with everywhere semistable reduction over a number field $K$, we either have $h(E/K)=h_{\text{min}}$ or $h(E/K)\geq h_{\text{min}} +C$. We determine such an absolute constant explicitly. On the contrary, we show that there is no such gap for elliptic curves with unstable reduction.
We give a direct proof that the Mazur-Tate and Coleman-Gross heights on elliptic curves coincide. The main ingredient is to extend the Coleman-Gross height to the case of divisors with non-disjoint support and, doing some $p$-adic analysis, show that, in particular, its component above $p$ gives, in the special case of an ordinary elliptic curve, the $p$-adic sigma function. We use this result to give a short proof of a theorem of Kim characterizing integral points on elliptic curves in some cases under weaker assumptions. As a further application, we give new formulas to compute double Colema…
We show that, assuming Vojta's height conjecture, the height of a rational point on an algebraically hyperbolic variety can be bounded "uniformly" in families. This generalizes a result of Su-Ion Ih for curves of genus at least two to higher-dimensional varieties. As an application, we show that, assuming Vojta's height conjecture, the height of a rational point on a curve of general type is uniformly bounded. Finally, we prove a similar result for smooth hyperbolic surfaces with $c_1^2 > c_2$.
In 1996 as part of the development of arithmetic intersection theory and Arakelov theory, Zhang defined a "GIT height function" for semi-stable algebraic cycles in projective space. In the same work, Zhang conjectured that this height function was positive. We prove this conjecture for zero-cycles and hyperplane arrangements.
Let K be a number field, O_K the ring of integers of K and X a stable curve over O_K of genus g >= 2. In this note, we will prove a strict inequality ( (K_{X/S})^2 / [K : Q] ) > Height_{Fal}(J(X_K)), where $K_{X/S}$ is the canonically metrized dualizing sheaf of X over S = Spec(O_K) and Height_{Fal}(J(X_K)) is the Faltings modular height of the Jacobian of X_K. As corollary, for any constant A, the set of all stable curves X over O_K with ( (K_{X/S})^2 / [K : Q] ) <= A is finite under the following equivalence. For stable curves X and Y, X is equivalent to Y if X is isomorphic to Y over O_{K'}…
To study problems involving heights as, eg, Manin's conjecture on the number of points of bounded height on an algebraic variety defined over a number field, it is desirable to have a good normalization of these height functions. We show how one can define these on fiber spaces. The construction uses the notion of an ``arithmetic torsor'', which is the analogue for a general algebraic group of adding a hermitian metric at infinity for vector bundles.
Let $G$ be a commutative algebraic group defined over a number field $K$ that is disjoint over $K$ to $\mathbb G_a$ and satisfies the condition of semistability. Consider a linear form $l$ on the Lie algebra of $G$ with algebraic coefficients and an algebraic point $u$ in a $p$-adic neighbourhood of the origin with the condition that $l$ does not vanish at $u$. We give a lower bound for the $p$-adic absolute value of $l(u)$ which depends up to an effectively computable constant only on the height of the linear form, the height of the point $u$ and $p$.